1. Molecular Equation
* Reactants: Barium hydroxide (Ba(OH)₂) and hydrocyanic acid (HCN)
* Products: Barium cyanide (Ba(CN)₂) and water (H₂O)
Molecular Equation:
Ba(OH)₂(aq) + 2HCN(aq) → Ba(CN)₂(aq) + 2H₂O(l)
2. Net Ionic Equation
* Identify the strong electrolytes: Barium hydroxide, hydrocyanic acid, and barium cyanide are strong electrolytes.
* Write the complete ionic equation: Break down the strong electrolytes into their ions.
* Cancel out the spectator ions: Spectator ions appear on both sides of the equation and do not participate in the reaction.
Complete Ionic Equation:
Ba²⁺(aq) + 2OH⁻(aq) + 2H⁺(aq) + 2CN⁻(aq) → Ba²⁺(aq) + 2CN⁻(aq) + 2H₂O(l)
Net Ionic Equation:
2OH⁻(aq) + 2H⁺(aq) → 2H₂O(l)
Simplified Net Ionic Equation:
OH⁻(aq) + H⁺(aq) → H₂O(l)
Important Note: Hydrocyanic acid (HCN) is a weak acid, but it's treated as a strong electrolyte in this case because the reaction is driven by the formation of water.
